The Family Factor
by Madrigal-in-training
Summary: Harry had always wanted a family. Not just parents, but siblings as well. When Colin asks him for a picture, Harry decides that he would become an honorary big brother to Colin. His responsibility as a big brother influences Harry's decisions and he begins to add to his new makeshift family. Now that he has something to fight for, maybe Harry will fight back. Harry/Luna
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"_**Signed photos?" Draco had overheard, "You're giving out signed photos now, Potter?"**_

Harry was just about to deny the accusation, when he caught the look on Colin's face. It appeared that the excitable boy was on the verge of tears for attracting this crowd- a complete contrast to his emotions before. He used to have a face of unbridled trust with a little hero worship thrown in for good measure. Harry recognized that type of face. It was the same type all younger kids had when they saw their favorite elder siblings. It was the same face Ron had when he talked about Bill and Charlie the first time they had met.

What had he said then? "_**I wish I had four older wizard brothers."**_

Well, maybe he couldn't have a few older brothers, but he was willing to settle for a younger one.

"I'm afraid you'll have to get in line Draco," Harry smiled at him, "We all know how obsessed you are with me. Tell you what- for being my biggest fan I'll give you two pictures."

Ron was the first to start laughing, but the rest of the crowd didn't hesitate to follow. Draco's cheeks got an ugly shade of red in them as he raised his wand, but before he could cast anything Professor Lockhart walked in. The students quickly began to disperse.

_**"What's all this, what's all this?" Gilderoy Lockhart was striding toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. "Who's giving out signed photos?"**_

_**Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have asked! We meet again, Harry!"**_

_**Pinned to Lockhart's side and burning with humiliation, Harry saw Malfoy slide smirking back into the crowd.**_

_**"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," said Lockhart, beaming at Colin. "A double portrait can't do better than that, and we'll both sign it for you."**_

Harry felt his heart warm when Colin looked at him first, as if for permission. He made a discrete shake of his head and Colin immediately looked at Lockhart sadly.

"I'm sorry Professor, but it looks like my film isn't working," the young Gryffindor said apologetically, "I think Draco Malfoy may have done something when he came up here to insult Harry."

"That wouldn't have surprised me at all," Harry added with a straight face, "Draco was always really jealous of my fame Professor… I'm sure _you_ understand what that's like."

Lockhart frowned at first, but smiled at the final line. With the way his chest puffed up, Harry couldn't help but wonder how he hadn't fallen over from lack of balance.

"Well, of course, I know all about that," Lockhart chuckled, "Don't worry Mr. Creevey; I'll make sure to have a few words with him about damaging another student's property." The bell rang, signaling the beginning of next period.

_**"Off you go, move along there," Lockhart called to the crowd, and he set off back to the castle with Harry, who was wishing he knew a good Vanishing Spell, still clasped to his side.**_

_**"A word to the wise, Harry," said Lockhart paternally as they entered the building through a side door. "I covered up for you back there with young Creevey - if he was photographing me, too, your schoolmates won't think you're setting yourself up so much . . . ."**_

"Thank you for that Professor," Harry said quickly, "I was just hoping to give Colin a personal photo, you know, but then Draco overheard and it spun out of control."

Lockhart nodded sagely, "Some fans never seem to get the hint, do they?"

Harry thought back to Ginny Weasley. "No, they don't sir," he agreed. They reached the Defense classroom before Professor Lockhart finally let go of him. Harry quickly made it into a seat in the middle row, next to Hermione and with Ron to his right.

"Honestly Harry!" the brown-haired girl immediately scolded, "You handled Colin really well, but then I can't believe you lied to a teacher! And worse, you brought a first year along!"

"Come off it, Hermione," Ron argued, "You can't say that Malfoy didn't deserve it. Besides, Harry didn't force Colin to lie along with him."

"Harry knew that Colin hero-worshipped him!" Hermione said, "He took advantage of that!"

Said boy frowned as he contemplated that. Had he really taken advantage of Colin?

"So?" Ron asked, in disbelief, "I know you're an only child, Hermione, so you probably don't this, but it's really normal. Charlie roped me into stealing cookies from Mum with him when I was seven. I hero-worshipped him, so obviously I didn't argue."

"What he did wasn't right, Ron!" Hermione hissed, "I can't believe you would support that!"

"Maybe it wasn't right, but it wasn't that wrong either," Ron said stubbornly, "I had to find out it was bad or good my own way, but we had a lot of fun that day. After we stole them, we bonded over eating them together below the crab apple tree. Then we both had stomachaches."

Harry contemplated that and decided that no, he hadn't been unduly influencing Colin. Or if he had, than it was an integral bonding moment that they would look back fondly at several years from now. Besides, it's not like teaching him how to get Malfoy in trouble was a_ bad_ influence.

"Wow Ron," Harry said, impressed, "That actually sounded wise."

The tips of Ron's ears turned red as he smiled, but Hermione just settled into a huff and ignored them.

_**When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front.**_

_**"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"**_

_**He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly.**_

_**"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books -well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in -"**_

_**When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes - start - now!"**_

_**Harry looked down at his paper and read:**_

**1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?**

**2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?**

**3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?**

_**On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:**_

**54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?**

Harry had once wondered in the past if he would ever meet anyone who was as much of a narcissist as Draco Malfoy. Now he knew that the blond boy had met his match- Gilderoy Lockhart.

He wondered if he could actually remember any of the answers from Lockhart's book. Probably not. He had only read one after all, and not even fully when he realized that _Wanderings with Werewolves _had the first four chapters dedicated to Lockhart's life story rather than anything remotely useful.

It was a bit disappointing that he still wouldn't have a proper teacher for Defense against the Dark Arts, but he'd get over it. It's not like Harry had expected much out of this ponce anyway.

'_Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color is off-white because it's the color of his capped teeth_," Harry scrawled on his paper, '_His greatest achievement is being able to hide all indications of his age through the use of magic and hair-care products. For example, his gaudy turquoise robes are sufficiently ruffled to hide the slight paunch in his stomach and his prominent curls detract attention from the crow's feet around his eyes._'

Harry grinned down at the paper, before he turned and gave Ron a small kick under the table.

"Ow!" Ron said, muffled, before quieting quickly. Hermione turned curiously and Harry pushed his paper in front so they could see.

Ron's eyes widened and he snickered, even as Hermione huffed in disapproval. The red-haired boy made a hand sign to ask for the paper, and Harry discretely handed it over so Ron could show the other boys in Gryffindor. He knew that they had seen it by the muffled snorts and chuckles that reached his ear. Seamus even turned to look at him directly and grinned.

Ron returned Harry's paper a minute later and showed his own after that. Under the last question, he had written, '_Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday was the first coming of the apocalypse, and his greatest gift would be a safe sex-change potion so he wouldn't have to disguise himself when he ogles men.'_

Harry choked back his laughter and returned to finishing the inane questions. This time, he was in a much better mood.

_**Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class. **_

His face paled when he came across one of the Gryffindor boys' tests, and Harry saw him try to poke his stomach when he found the one below that. He must have read Harry's then. To his credit, Lockhart tried to collect himself admirably.

_**"Tut, tut - hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully - I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdens Old Firewhisky!"**_

_**He gave them another roguish wink. Ron was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Hermione, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her name.**_

_**". . . but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions - good girl! In fact" - he flipped her paper over - "full marks! Where is Miss Hermione Granger?"**_

_**Hermione raised a trembling hand.**_

_**"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so - to business -"**_

As Hermione beamed, Ron and Harry gave her pitying and vaguely disgusted looks.

_**He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it. "Now - be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."**_

Harry felt a small bit of guilt at poking fun of Lockhart before. Maybe, he really was a good teacher.

_**In spite of himself, Harry leaned around his pile of books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Dean and Seamus had stopped laughing now. Neville was cowering in his front row seat.**_

_**"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them."**_

_**As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.**_

_**"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies."**_

And there went his guilt. When Lockhart released the pixies a few minutes later, Harry did not feel any compunction whatsoever in grabbing a protesting Hermione and an apprehensive Ron and dragging them out of the class. When the fiasco that was Lockhart's defense lesson was repeated to them an hour later by an irate Seamus and jealous Dean, Ron- and even a grudging Hermione- thanked him.

Incidentally, none of them received a detention.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The rest of the classes for that day were mild compared to that of their Defense Professor's. Harry had pushed Colin out of his mind by the time they made it to their next class, Transfiguration, but remembered it suddenly when he saw the dejected blond boy during dinner.

"Hello Colin," Harry said, slipping into a free seat beside him. Ron and Hermione exchanged a puzzled look but sat with him nonetheless. The other first years, Harry noted uncomfortably, looked shocked.

"Harry!" Colin yelped, suddenly sitting straight up and giving him a bright grin, "Hi!"

"How were your classes?" Harry asked. Colin seemed to deflate slightly.

"It was okay, I guess," he replied, "We had Professor Snape last period. I lost ten points for Gryffindor when I couldn't answer one of his questions."

"Well, that would be enough to get anyone down," Ron said, sympathetically, "Don't worry about it Colin. That slimy, greasy git hates everyone who's not a Slytherin. He even took points off of Hermione in our first class. And she answered the question right!"

"Ron," Hermione said, exasperated, "Don't talk about a teacher that way. Still, he does have a point, Colin. Professor Snape doesn't really like Gryffindor."

"He hates me the most," Harry informed the slightly-happier boy, "Something about being an undiscovered, unprecedented, natural Potions genius that he couldn't compare to. Jealousy, I think."

"Harry's so brilliant in fact that he found eighteen different ways to screw up a basic Calming Draught- and that was just when he was prepping ingredients!" Ron added, laughing at his friend's mock glare.

"I don't think you could be that bad at Potions, Harry," Colin came to his Defense, "You defeated a Dark Lord!"

"I don't think I really did that, Colin," Harry lowered his voice, with every intention of destroying this fan-boy attitude; "I was only a baby at that time. Professor Dumbledore said that it was my mother's love that protected me from the Killing Curse."

Colin appeared to be skeptical, "But a lot of mum's love their babies, and you're the only one who survived a killing curse, right?"

Hermione frowned, "Colin does have a point, Harry. If there are so many parents willing to sacrifice themselves for their children, than why is it that only you could reflect the killing curse?"

"Guys, we might want to have this conversation another time," Ron interrupted, looking pointedly at the first years who were listening in. A few of them reddened and turned away.

Harry nodded absently, his mind still fixated on Hermione's previous question. He pushed that thought away, and focused on Colin again. Hermione was thoroughly questioning him on his other classes and the blonde-haired boy appeared to be scared by her impromptu interrogation.

"So, have you made any friends?" Harry asked hurriedly, saving the first-year.

"The boys in my dorm room are nice, but I only got to really talk to this Ravenclaw girl in Transfiguration," Colin reported, excitedly, "She looked a bit weird, but she was really nice! We had to transfigure matchsticks into sewing pins, and I got the shape of the pin right but it was still made of wood and it didn't have that hole at the center that my mum's pins have-"

"Take a minute to breathe Colin," Harry joked, "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"Right," Colin said, flushing red, "You're still here… so um, I didn't finish the Transfiguration and Professor McGonagall assigned that for homework today."

"Sounds similar to what we had to do last year," Hermione commented. Ron seemed to be too engrossed with his plate of chicken legs to add to the conversation.

"When do you have Professor McGonagall next?" Harry asked.

"Three days from now, after lunch," Colin reported, after hastily checking his schedule.

"Would you like me to help you with it tomorrow then?" Harry offered, taking out his schedule as well, "I have a free period tomorrow for first and after lunch."

"I have a free after lunch too!" Colin answered, beaming, "Would you mind, really?"

"No problem," Harry shrugged, "I might as well get started on my Potions essay at the library anyway. How about you, Hermione?"

"That's a great idea, Harry!" Hermione looked proud, "You're finally starting your essays early!"

"Would you mind if I invited a friend over Harry?" Colin looked nervous, "It's just that I promised Luna I'd study with her…"

"I don't mind," Harry answered, "See you later, then?"

"Yeah!" Colin replied. After Harry and Hermione managed to extract Ron from his dinner and walk to the Common Room, Harry saw Colin get mobbed by the curious first years from the corner of his eye.

/

The next day none of the Gryffindor first years was late to Charms. This was attributed more to Harry leading Colin to class- and followed by a group of bemused Gryffindors- than in the self-direction skills displayed by any of the new first-years. At the very least, they learned about four new corridors and a series of helpful facts about the moving stairs along the way.

It was after lunch when the Golden Trio met Colin and a white-blond slip of a girl by the library. When Harry first saw her, he could see what Colin meant about her being a little weird. She wore a butterbeer cork necklace, two radish earrings, and placed her wand behind her ear. Her eyes were disconcertingly luminous silver- it reminded Harry of the liquid mercury he had used once in a class science project in Surrey.

"Hello Harry Potter," she greeted him, "My name is Luna Lovegood."

"Loony Luna," Ron whispered, panicked, "Of all the girls Colin could have chosen to hang out with, he picks Loony- ouch!"

"Don't be rude, Ron," Hermione whispered, as Harry hesitantly smiled at the girl.

"Er… hello, Luna," Harry replied, "You already know my name, so this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley."

Luna looked at the two indicated second years solemnly. "Hello Ronald. How is Ginny? I haven't seen her since my mother died."

"Hi Luna," Ron said, uncomfortably, "I- ah, I think Ginny's well. And you?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she answered happily, turning around and leading them into the library; "Hogwarts is quite wonderful isn't it? I thought it would be infested by Nargles, but they're pleasantly absent here."

"Nargles?" Hermione frowned, "I've never heard of those creatures before."

Luna nodded, "They're very shy, but they also like to play tricks on people. My father researches them for our paper."

"You mean your Dad works for the Daily Prophet," Colin asked, surprised.

"Oh no, Daddy owns the Quibbler," Luna answered, lifting her legs and crossing them on her seat, "So, shall we begin the lessons?"

"Right," Harry said, hastily as Hermione began to frown, "First things first. Show me your wand movements…"

/

Minerva McGonagall was somewhat surprised when one of her Gryffindor's performed the matchstick-to-pin transfiguration perfectly that day in class. Not that it was an unpleasant surprise by any means, but she usually allowed three classes to be devoted to this first lesson. The growth rate exhibited by this same student was also rather impressive, and it was matched by that of a Ravenclaw peer by the name of Luna Lovegood.

When Dumbledore convened the first staff meeting for the school year (with Lockhart claiming to be sick), she decided to mention this.

"Now, for a rundown of the students," Albus checked over the new class lists, although Minerva knew that he had most likely memorized it by now, "What is your opinion of Elena Alkyne?"

The general consensus to that was that she was a perfectly normal, slightly above average in Charms, Hufflepuff, with the exception of Snape who pronounced that she was a dunderhead.

"Romilia Bathers?"

The general consensus to this was that she was an average if motivated Ravenclaw, with a penchant for writing terrible essays but doing very well in practical Transfiguration. Snape assured them that she, too, was a dunderhead.

"Colin Creevey?"

"He's shown very good results in my class," Minerva interjected. As she was his Head of House, she had to speak first. "His essays are very neat and his practical work is excellent. He's a bit excitable, but very well behaved."

"I concur," Professor Flitwick added, "His Charms, practical and theoretical, have been exemplary. It was a bit of a surprise, because he didn't show any clear signs of talent at the beginning."

"I found him to be decent, but not particularly talented at Herbology," Pomona added, "Although, as Minerva said, he's quite well-behaved."

"He's a nuisance who's madly in love with Potter," Snape snorted, "He carries around a camera everywhere, and insists on documenting every mundane detail. No potions talent whatsoever."

"It's not a surprise that he's doing very well," Madam Pince, the librarian asserted, "I've seen him study with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and, occasionally, Ronald Weasley in the library twice a week along with a first year Ravenclaw."

"Would that Ravenclaw happen to be Luna Lovegood?" Flitwick asked, "She has blond, silvery hair and pale blue eyes…? Yes? Delightful! Ms. Lovegood has been doing rather well in class as well."

"Typical," Snape said, scathingly, "That Creevey and Lovegood cannot achieve anything of note without personal tutoring from Gryffindor's resident celebrity and bookworm."

"Well I think it's wonderful that Harry is putting Colin and Luna under his wing," Minerva retorted, "I've seen an improvement in his own scores because of the reviewing he does on the foundations learned last year."

"Excellent then," Dumbledore said, checking his paper, "Now, what is your opinion of Winfred Cymme?"

"She's a dunderhead in Potions," Snape reported first.

/


End file.
